General Motors' Wagoner Says Affordable Electric Cars Needed to Shift Market

SAN FRANCISCO May 1, 2008; The AP reported that General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Richard Wagoner says global warming is not going to be solved with $100,000 electric cars, and his company is focusing on a vehicle more consumers can afford.

Wagoner spoke to the Commonwealth Club of California on Thursday on the topics of global warming, ethanol availability, and rising gas prices.

Global warming needs a solution that can "significantly shift the fleet of vehicles to different fuels or different propulsion technologies fairly rapidly," he said after the event.

So why is it taking so long to launch the plug-in electric Chevy Volt?

"Frankly it's one thing to develop a technology for a car that's going to cost $100,000, it's very different for a car that's going to cost $20,000," Wagoner said.